Wednesday, 10 September 2008

The Mask Slips…

From the front page of the paper copy of the London ‘Metro’ (no e-copy available), referring to the widely-condemned decision by Telford and Wrekin Council to issue instructions to stop and question (and if necessary eject) anyone walking in Telford Town Park without a child, an unnamed council spokesman is quoted:

But a council spokesman said: ‘We do reserve the right to ask people what they are doing in the park.

Otherwise it’s a free-for-all where they can come and do what they want.’

Make no mistake – this is what really irks the petty little gauleiters that have slowly but surely taken over our councils. And they are winning in their efforts to ensure that we no longer have the right to come and go and do as we please. Plus, we’re paying their salaries and inflated pensions while they do it.

*expanding that passage from the Metro paper*:But a council spokesman said: "We do reserve the right to ask people what they are doing in the park. Otherwise it's a free-for-all where the can come and dowhat they want."

Um...yes? Otherwise what is the point of me paying my council tax in order to keep public parks functioning and people like him in business?

Problem is not just secluded to Bradford - there are many public parks in Leeds that are now too dangerous to go at night; the majority of our youth group live next to one of these and are frequently assaulted with little being done.

It strikes me that this council spokesman would be better suited to being a night guard at one of these places; they might find more to complain about as they obviously have too much time on their hands already.

That quote did amaze me as well. It's a pity that Metro's articles aren't always online, but you can usually find a very similar article in its sister paper, The Daily Hatemail, here, for example, albeit without the 'free for all' comment.

The same goes for LondonLite - you can usually find the same article on the Evening Standard or failing tbat, the Daily Hatemail website. And sometimes the same article crops up in all four papers.